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Khulna: Police recovered the bodies of two young men with bullet wounds from the Singher Char area of Aichgati Union in Rupsa upazila of Khulna on Monday, amid a spate of killings and shootings in the district.
The bodies were recovered around 12:30pm from a char in the Atharobeki River after local people spotted one body lying there. As the water receded during low tide, they found another body at the same spot.
Police later reached the scene and recovered the bodies with the help of local residents.
The deceased were identified as Mehedi Hasan, 35, son of Abdullah of Rajapur area in Rupsa, and Rezaul Karim, 30. Mehedi had previously worked as a boatman at the Jailkhana Ghat.
According to preliminary police information, the two men were active members of the B-Company, a criminal gang formed by Roni Chowdhury, alias Grenade Babu, a notorious criminal figure in Khulna’s underworld.
Both bodies bore bullet marks.
Rupsa Police Station Officer-in-Charge Masum Khan told media that the two men had been shot dead and their bodies were apparently dumped in the river after the killings.
Mehedi had a bullet wound near his eyebrow, while Rezaul had bullet wounds below his chin and on his back, he said.
The motive behind the killings was being investigated, the OC added, saying the two men were known to be active members of the B-Company gang.
Mehedi’s father, Abdullah, went to the spot after hearing that his son’s body had been found on the riverbank. Speaking to journalists, he said Mehedi lived separately and that he had little contact with his son.
The latest killings come amid a surge in violence in Khulna. Seven murders have taken place in Khulna city and district over the past 12 days, while five people have been shot during the same period. Among those shot were three current and former leaders of Jubo Dal.
One of the recent victims was Humayun Kabir, joint convener of Khulna Metropolitan Tanti Dal, who was hacked to death at his business establishment inside a restaurant in the Rayermohol area under Aranghata Police Station on Sunday evening.
On Saturday night, police recovered the bloodstained body of a young man from a road in the Labanchara area of the city. Police said he had been hacked to death and his body left on the road.
Three shooting incidents took place in Khulna between the night of October 26 and the afternoon of October 27. In two separate incidents in Batiaghata upazila, two former Jubo Dal leaders were shot and injured. A worker of a private organisation was also shot in Khulna city.
Earlier, on October 25, a person was beaten to death in the Sonadanga Police Station area.
On October 24, college teacher Dhananjay Kundu, alias Akash Kundu, was shot by assailants in the Gachhtala area of South Tutpara. The same morning, Jubo Dal leader Ramim Biswas was injured in a shooting in Terokhada upazila.
On October 22, a young man was shot dead in the East Baniakhammar area of the city in the morning. Later that evening, a housewife was shot dead in the Jinnahpara area.
According to police, most of the killings are linked to disputes over control of arms and drug trades, extortion, previous enmity and rivalries among criminal gangs.
Police said a total of 75 people had been murdered in Khulna city and district through various means, including shootings and attacks with sharp weapons, up to November 1 this year.